Charleston Longshore Support Committee Raises Over $13,000 For Indicted Workers

President Ken Riley To Attend
Charleston Longshore Defense Committee Meeting
Wed March 14th 7:00 PM
400 N.Point St./Mason
San Francisco

The next Charleston Longshore Defense committee meeting will be 7PM at Local
10, in the Henry Schmidt room Wed. March 14. That is the week of the
Longshore Caucus to be held here in San Francisco. Ken Riley will be
attending the Caucus and has agreed to address our defense committee
meeting. Our successful fundraiser campaign garnered $13,000 for our
Charleston brothers!

Charleston Longshore Workers\' Tour Takes Bay Area By Storm--
$13,640 Raised for the Dockworkers\' Defense!
International Day of Solidarity Actions Pledged in World\'s Ports!
A delegation of Charleston longshoremen including ILA Local 1422 President Kenneth Riley, Vice President Robert Ford and two defendants in the case known as the Charleston 5, Peter Washington and Elijah Ford, made a whirlwind tour of the Bay Area February 21- February 25. The tour was sponsored by the Labor Committee in Defense of the Charleston Longshore Workers. The purpose of their Northern California visit was to expose the legal onslaught against them and their union by nonunion employer W.S.I. and the South Carolina Attorney General and to win the support of trade unionists, blacks and those concerned with civil liberties. The Charleston 5, if convicted, face up to five years in jail for exercising their right to picket against a scab stevedore operation. By the time they headed back home five days later, they\'d won the hearts of Bay Area trade unionists and helped to raise over $13,640 for their legal defense, $7350 sent directly from unions to Charleston, with promises of more to come.
Greeted at the San Francisco airport on Wednesday February 21 by Trent \"Buster\" Willis (ILWU Local 10), Jack Heyman (ILWU Local 10), Eddie Gutierrez (ILWU Local 34) and Robert Irminger (IBU), all members of the defense committee, the Charleston longshoremen wasted no time in reaching labor\'s ear. No sooner had they disembarked from their airplane than they headed for a mass picket line of some 400 United Air Lines mechanics. Local TV crews filmed the labor protest that was addressed by Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the California AFL-CIO, Art Pulaski, and other labor officials. Riley was introduced, spoke from the platform and received resounding applause. No sooner had he finished speaking than Fox TV interviewed him by cell phone.
From here it was off to the Soul Beat TV studio in Oakland where the four Charleston longshoremen and Trent Willis, secretary-treasurer of the defense committee, were interviewed on the evening news program which reaches some 400,000 viewers, mostly African-American. After this first day\'s busy schedule they were treated to fried catfish and seafood at \"Sweet Jimmie\'s\", a restaurant/nightclub in downtown Oakland owned by a retired Local 10 member and a favorite hangout of many longshoremen who made the Charleston brothers feel right at home.
The following day they got a tour of the port of Oakland by Local 10 President Henry Graham and Business Agent Kevin Gibbons. With a bit of friendly jousting the Charleston brothers claimed their port was the fourth largest in the U.S., while Oakland longshore workers contended that their port was number four. On a more serious note, President Graham took them on a hospital visit to former Local 10 President Lawrence Thibeaux, who had undergone a heart bypass operation. Thibeaux had flown to Charleston last year in the heat of the struggle to participate in the picket at the Columbus Street terminal and bring solidarity greetings from Northern California ILWU locals.
Thursday night Riley spoke at La Pe